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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Emily Lau in the Legislative Council today (November 24):
Question:
According to the recruitment procedures of the disciplined services concerned (Fire Services Department (FSD), Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF), Customs and Excise Department (C&ED), Immigration Department (ImmD) and Correctional Services Department (CSD)), applicants need to pass a physical fitness test but the requirements of different disciplined services are not quite the same. Some of the disciplined services require applicants of both genders to pass physical fitness tests with the same criteria for both genders, regardless of the fact that both genders are born with different physical conditions. In this connection, will the executive authorities inform this Council:
(a) given that information indicates that different standards are prescribed for male and female candidates in the physical fitness tests of HKPF and CSD, of the respective numbers of male and female candidates who failed such physical fitness tests in each of the past three years, as well as their respective percentages in the total number of candidates taking the tests concerned;
(b) given that information indicates that candidates of both genders are required to attain the same physical fitness levels in the physical fitness tests of FSD, C&ED and ImmD, of the respective numbers of male and female candidates who failed such tests in each of the past three years, as well as their respective percentages in the total number of candidates taking the tests concerned; and
(c) given that the information provided by the authorities in response to my question in 2005 indicates that under the circumstances that candidates of both genders need to pass physical fitness tests with the same criteria, there was an extremely serious imbalance between the respective passing rates of the male and female candidates of the disciplined services concerned, whether the authorities will review and revamp the requirements of physical fitness tests, so as to strike a balance between meeting the requirements according to job nature and promoting fair competition between male and female candidates?
Reply:
President,
(a) and (b) Please refer to the Annex on the statistics on candidates who applied in the recruitment exercises of the five disciplined services and attended the physical fitness tests in the past three years.
(c) The physical fitness tests conducted by the disciplined services in their recruitment exercises aim to assess whether the applicants can fulfil the minimum requirements in physical fitness for the posts concerned. The current fitness test standards prescribed by the disciplined services are set by experts based on the actual operational needs of the relevant disciplined service.
Given the different job nature of male and female officers of the HKPF and CSD, the two disciplined services have currently prescribed different physical fitness requirements for male and female applicants. As regards the CSD, the Prisons Ordinance (Cap. 234) requires prisoners be supervised by correctional services personnel of the same gender. As managing male and female prisoners does not demand the same physical fitness from correctional services personnel, the CSD has prescribed relevant physical fitness test standards for male and female applicants respectively, based on the actual job requirements. As for the HKPF, since there is a generally higher demand for physical fitness on male officers owing to the nature of their job duties, the HKPF has adopted different physical fitness test standards for male and female applicants. The HKPF will review the physical fitness test standards from time to time in the light of their job requirements.
The FSD, C&ED and ImmD do not set different standards of physical fitness tests for different gender because there is no need for them to assign duties based on physical fitness or gender. The departments have therefore adopted the principle of "same physical fitness requirement for the same job" to assess whether applicants fulfil the minimum physical fitness requirements of the posts concerned.
On the whole, the standards of the physical fitness tests of various disciplined services are set in accordance with the actual job nature and the respective physical fitness requirements of individual disciplined service.
Ends/Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Issued at HKT 13:57
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